homesick
I dropped Riley off for a going away party for a friend one night recently.
I had no idea what I was about to drive through on my way home.
The driveway was long.
Gravel.
Winding around a few trees and some lovely fields.
Passing a garden.
Up a ridge.
Mountains in the background.
The recent rain had left everything that deep shade of green you cannot get any other time.
Clouds were hanging low.
It looked like a scene straight out of one of the old Civil War movies my dad would make us watch on lazy Sunday afternoons.
(The only day TV was allowed during daylight hours at our house.)
And I was struck.
By wave after wave of homesickness.
Home sick for the Virginia of my youth.
The house.
The view.
The thin single strand of electric fence.
A spreading front porch.
A pond.
I sighed.
And felt old.
The driveway was muddy and the sound of almost red clay slopping around my tires and clicking off in chunks on the pavement made my heart hurt.
It’s a sound my children will never recognize.
It’s a click-clicking that will never remind them of home.
And it’s not that it was a perfect childhood.
It’s not that it is exactly what I desire for my children.
But it was good.
And it was mine.
And I miss its glory and its simplicity and its safety.
7 Comments
Josh King
I can remember the times quiet clearly also. The cows, tree that so abolitionist was hung on, the creek, and of course some tubing down the river.
Cindy
memories……how sweet they are…..
joanna
lacey this is beautiful. what lovely writing. and i feel you. sometimes i catch a smell from home- just a waft of something that transports to another place. and i stand, breath as deeply as i can and try to run with my brain to wherever it's going. and you're right. makes me feel old. as i realize i won't be there again.
i'm sensing i could write and write. so i'll stop. thank you for posting this moment. it was a sweet read.
Helen Rutrough
A perfectly good reason to come back home and visit (or live)! I’m sure the Bray’s wouldn’t mind you coming back to your homeplace and sitting under the tree and soaking it all in! Sounds like a very good reason to have a school reunion!!!
LaceyKeigley
Definitely a good reason to visit!
I have some sweet photos of our little Piper Willow sitting in the willow tree in our front yard that I gave to Mom as a gift my freshman year of college.
I plan on visiting this summer too!
Lisa Van Ek
Lacey – It was not the home of my youth, but the home of the first years of our married lives & where my first child was born…..I loved that driveway and somedays wish my kids were growing up there. With the tobacco barn on the hill, cows grazing, corn growing, clay sticking to your shoes, the swimming hole and the rodeo barrel hanging in the yard, we have great memories of our time there. You mentioned in an earlier post that you don't have alot of pictures of your Mom, I know of one that I have and I have tons of the farm and the view, If you'd like them let me know. Hope your well…enjoy your summer!!!! Lisa
LaceyKeigley
Lisa,
What a treat to hear from you!
I love seeing pictures of your beautiful family on facebook every now and again!
The farm was a good place to grow up – I am always telling the kids stories of being there.
And I would, in fact, love any photos of Mom that you may have, plus ones of the farm as well. It seems there was a lack of great cameras or photographers growing up – plus, you never knew you would be missing it later. 🙂